The present invention relates to a holder for a paper roll with axial dispensing of the paper from the roll, said holder comprising a housing which has an end wall provided with a dispensing opening.
A holder for a paper roll with central dispensing of the paper from the interior of the roll is known from EP-A1-0 091 411. With such a dispensing the paper web axially drawn from the paper roll forms a spiral coil with axially displaced windings. This means in the first place that when drawing paper from a full roll, several layers of paper must be torn of with the aid of the tear means, the tearing force required could then being larger than the force required to axially draw paper from the paper roll, whereby it would be impossible for a user to tear off a desired length of paper web with the use of one hand only. In the second place the length of the paper web in the spiral coil being axially drawn from the paper roll is hard to determine for the user. Furthermore, the length of paper web must in most cases be uncoiled before use.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate these problems by providing a holder for a paper roll with axial dispensing of the paper from the roll which will enable the user to always be able to tear off a length of paper web being axially drawn from the paper roll with one hand only and which will facilitate the determination of the length of paper web being axially drawn from the paper roll and which will deliver the paper web wholly or to a large extent uncoiled.
This object is according to the invention accomplished by a holder for a paper roll with axial dispensing of the paper from the roll, said holder comprising a housing which has an end wall provided with a dispensing opening and tear means extending around the periphery of the opening, characterised in that the holder includes means for rotating the web of paper being drawn from a paper roll, which is disposed in the housing, relative to the paper roll in dependence of the length of paper web being drawn out of the dispensing opening, said means being disposed within the housing. Thereby the spiral coil of paper web axially leaving the paper roll when a length of paper web is drawn out of the dispensing opening in the housing, can be uncoiled so that a planar length of paper web will be dispensed from the dispensing opening.
In the preferred embodiment the means for rotating the web of paper being drawn from a paper roll being disposed in the housing relative to the paper roll comprises a pair of elongate, rotatable rollers disposed so that the nip between said rollers can frictionally hold a paper web drawn from a paper roll disposed in the housing, the length of paper web being drawn out of the dispensing opening determining the amount of rotation of said rollers and a device for rotating the paper roll, said device having drive means driven by one of the rollers holding a paper web being drawn out of the dispensing opening. Furthermore, the means for rotating the web of paper being drawn from a paper roll, which is disposed in the housing, relative to the paper roll, comprises a device for sensing the change in thickness of a paper roll disposed in the housing due to a length of a web of paper being drawn out of the dispensing opening and means for varying the rotational speed of the paper web relative to the paper roll in dependence of the change in thickness of the paper roll. Said means for varying the rotational speed of the paper roll can comprise an axially movable conical wheel being driven by a drive wheel axially extending from one of the rollers and being affixed to one end of a shaft being rotatably supported in the housing and extending in a direction parallel to the axis of a paper roll disposed in the housing, the other end of the shaft being connected to a device for axially moving the conical wheel in dependence of the thickness of the paper roll. Drive means for rotating a paper roll disposed in the housing is attached to the shaft between the ends thereof and comprises a drive roller acting on the peripherical surface of the paper roll. The holder preferably includes an annular disc for supporting a paper roll, said disc being rotatably supported in the housing.
Alternatively, the drive means for rotating a paper roll disposed in the housing comprises a drive wheel acting on the peripherical surface of the annular disc supporting the paper roll.
In a further embodiment, the drive means for rotating a paper roll disposed in the housing comprise an electric motor controlled by a computer to which a signal representative of the rotation of the rollers is fed.